Parental Guidance
by Rose Lupus
Summary: It's a father's duty to tell the truth, but sometimes kids just don't want to listen... Zade, post 3x13, [AKA Crazy Earl - Zade Shipper]
1. Chapter 1

Her mother was in Bluebell, she and Joel were fighting. She supposed it could be worse. At least Wade wasn't on shift tonight to see her drunken downward spiral. Zoe stumbled out of the bar cursing under her breath.

"Fine. There's always box wine," Zoe slurred loudly at the Rammer Jammer's neon lights. "You think this is drunk? Should have seen me in college. I'm just tipsy!"

She stumbled across the car park and nearly tripped as she rounded the side of her car.

"Ugh… can't drive. Bad Doctor," Zoe scolded herself before she turned around and started walking. Box wine, she declared her new mission.

She didn't get far before tripping again, and she gratefully leaned on the arm she was offered to use as a crutch, although the owner was none to steady himself.

"Hiiiiiiii Crazy Earl!" She cheerfully dragged out in a slightly sing song voice. "I mean, not-Crazy Earl. Sir. Mr Wade – Mr Kinsella!"

Zoe fist-pumped the air when she finally hit on an appropriately un-insulting title.

"You have been drinking."

"Soooooo have you!" Zoe said defensively, continuing to lean on Earl's arm as they walked out of the car park. "I'm only a little bit drunk. Little, teeny," she pinched her fingers together in front of Earl's face, "Tiny little bit drunk."

"Why ain't my son here to take you home?"

Zoe huffed dramatically at this, and with her loosened tongue snapped out.

"I don't know where Wade is. Probably making out with my cousin," she pulled a face like she was about to bring up her bellyful of spirits. "And I don't even care anyway, we broke up, remember? Ages ago. I'm completely over it."

She kicked a stone that tried to trip her viciously and it pinged of a tree trunk and skipped back onto the road.

Crazy Earl shook his head sorrowfully at being reminded of this, then stumbled at the sudden motion, swaying little Zoe Hart with him. It was tragedy, an absolute tragedy, he thought. If he could have held onto his dear wife, Jackie, he would have until the day he died. And he'd seen the way Wade looked at Zoe – with more adoration than he'd seen on Wade's face since his mother was alive. His son was a damn fool to let this one go.

It was father's duty to tell the truth, he'd told his son. Now, he was reckoning, perhaps this was one of those occasions when it was also a father's duty to step in and save his son from making the biggest mistake of life.


	2. Chapter 2

"Shuuutttt uppppp Wade," a croaky voice moaned from beneath the kitchen table.

Lavon and Wade both jumped in surprise at the interjection into their morning conversation.

"Zoe?" Wade asked incredulously, hanging off his stool trying to peer under the table.

Zoe made a frustrated noise and started pushing at the chairs, trying to get out and knocking one over in the process. She crawled out and lifted her head to produce a resounding crack as her head connected with the underside of the table she hadn't quite cleared. Lavon and Wade winced.

"Ow," she whined, and dropped to the ground again, rubbing the back of her head vigorously. With her face still planted on the lino she asked, "Where _am_ I?"

"You're under my kitchen table," Lavon explained slowly as his mind tried to imagine what scenario ended with the good Dr Hart literally drinking herself under a table, and specifically, _his_ table. "And, Zoe, as much as I love your company… you do realise you don't live here anymore, right?"

Wade couldn't help but laugh hysterically at Zoe's state of disrepair, but he did get off his seat to drag his horrendously hung over, and now mildly concussed ex up onto her feet. Or not her feet, he decided as she tried to collapse back down as soon as he tried to let her go. Wade guided her onto a chair and backed away cautiously with his hands out to catch her if she tried to go to ground again.

"Don't make me think. It hurts," Zoe clutched her head in both hands, her pain written on her face.

She started to tilt forward in the chair to a dangerous angle, and Wade quickly stepped forward to catch her by the shoulders and push her back.

"Big night last night, Doc?" Wade smirked.

Zoe's only response was a pitiful groan, and Wade took his hands away before he gave into the temptation to gently stroke back her sleep mussed hair. Luckily, a distraction was readily available.

"Hey. Isn't that my mother's dress?" Wade asked in disbelief, staring at the blue floral frock with puffed sleeves.

Zoe winced at the volume of his voice and rubbed her head again. She looked down at the dress, frowning in effort.

"I… I think so?"

"Why the hell are you wearing my mother's dress?"

"I don't know," Zoe scrunched her forehead, thinking how much she would rather just go back to sleep right now, except her pounding head would probably render that impossible. She closed her eyes, "Wait. I think I fell in… something. Had to change. The swamp! I fell in the swamp."

Zoe pulled a face at the blurry memory. She was lucky the leeches didn't eat her alive.

"Into my mother's dress?!"

"Earl thought it would fit," she mumbled. God damn her head was going to physically _explode_.

"_Earl?"_

"Zoe Hart," Lavon intoned, with more than a hint of amusement, "Do you mean to tell me that you spent last night drinking yourself stupid with Crazy Earl Kinsella?"

"Ah…." Zoe cringed in embarrassment, "Maybe? It's a little hazy. I think we went fishing."

Wade's jaw dropped, and he made a few attempts to speak, but all he could get out was a rather strangled '_what?'._

"Fishing? In the middle of the night? Drunk?" Lavon laughed, "Lavon Hayes can't believe you didn't drown when you fell in."

"Lavon, please tell me you have Tylenol?" Zoe begged pitifully.

Lavon shook his head at his former tenant, and went to get the pain killers and a glass of water.

Zoe frowned down at her feet as Wade continued to struggle for a full sentence.

"Hey…. where are my shoes?"


	3. Chapter 3

"I can't believe you got drunk with my alcoholic father. You're supposed to be a doctor, you shouldn't be encouraging him!"

"I know, I know," Zoe said, cringing in embarrassment. She didn't need Wade to tell her what mess she'd made of herself last night. "I'm sorry. I don't even know how that happened."

"Why the hell did you drink so much in the first place?"

"Ugh," Zoe shook her head. She didn't want to talk about her mother, or the tension between her and Joel, especially not with Wade Kinsella. She was saved by Lavon who interrupted at that moment.

"Zoe, is this yours?" Lavon dangled a handbag from his finger with an eyebrow raised curiously, "It was in my pantry."

"So _that's_ where I put it!" Zoe grabbed the bag and gratefully accepted the painkillers Lavon held out to her.

"Thank-you so much Lavon, you're an angel."

She swallowed them down with water Lavon held out to her, then dug through her bag for her phone.

"Oh, crap!" Zoe exclaimed at the screen, which informed her she had fourteen missed calls and six new text messages. "Joel!"

She immediately tapped call and put the phone to her ear. As soon as she heard the other end was picked up, she started blurting an apology.

"I'm so sorry about last night, I had a little too much to drink and I kind of passed out at Lavon's and I must have slept-"

Zoe stopped short as Joel interrupted her.

"What do you mean why am I calling?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"I did? I don't remember that…"

There was a much longer pause then as Zoe's brow drew into a deeper frown as Joel spoke again. Wade and Lavon exchanged significant looks, trying to guess what was happening on the other line.

"Stock photo what?!" Zoe exclaimed, looking completely lost, "What the hell does that mean?"

_"It means I'm out. I'm done being your second choice. Find someone else to spend your birthday with your mother."_

Zoe's jaw fell slack.

"Are you breaking up with me?!" she asked in disbelief, completely forgetting that Lavon and Wade were in the room.

_"We already did, you were obviously just too drunk to remember it."_

"Joel, I'm sorry, I don't… I didn't mean it, whatever I said. I'm sorry!"  
Lavon and Wade were feeling mighty uncomfortable with eavesdropping now, and they silently agreed to quietly and quickly head for the exit.

_"I'm pretty sure you meant it, Miss 'mind-altering substances only lower conscious inhibition'."_

"I said that?"

_"It was a little more slurred and long winded. Included a long-winded soliloquy about truth, beauty, freedom and love that I'm pretty sure was inspired by Moulin Rouge. I paraphrased. Now if you will excuse me, I have a bus to catch."_

"Joel…" she tried again, her voice low and sad, and tinged with the futility she was feeling.

She really didn't know what to say to this point. She was too shocked by this turn of events, and still far too hung over to know how to fix it. He was angry and hurt and more determined than he'd been in quite a while, about anything.

_"Zoe," _He spoke again, his voice a little less harsh._ "You were right about us. We've been a little off for a while now. I know you felt it too. There's no sense pushing on with something that isn't really ever going to work just because we want it to work. Really, I should thank you for saving me the trouble."_

"I'm sorry," she whispered again, knowing there was no fixing this.

_"I know. Have a good life Zoe."_

"Bye Joel," she let the words out like a sigh, and winced when the dial tone blared in her ear.

She let her hand fall to her lap and hung up. Zoe stared at the dead screen in silence until Lavon cautiously stuck his head through the door.

"Zoe? You okay?"

Zoe sedately shook her head, and then surprised even herself by bursting into tears.


	4. Chapter 4

"Oh, Zoe," Lavon rushed over to wrap her in a big hug.

Wade hovered in the doorway indecisively. He knew he should probably just go and leave Lavon to take care of her, but it was Zoe, and the sight of crying still tore him apart. She wasn't his to look after anymore, and he figured it wasn't appropriate to swoop over and hug her like he wanted to. In fact, she probably wouldn't even want him here watching her fall apart, but he just couldn't bear to leave while she was still sobbing into Lavon's shoulder.

It reminded of him of the wedding, when she'd realised he'd cheated… those tears silently falling down her cheeks, and that face. God. He'd never felt worse in his life. He'd loathed himself in that moment. Hell, he still did. For the ten thousandth time, he internally kicked himself for cheating on the only woman he'd ever really loved, and settled on maintaining his position in the doorway and clenching his fist so he remembered not to try and touch her.

Zoe leaned into the comfort of Lavon's arms for a few seconds, before taking a deep breath and pulling back and wiping quickly at her eyes. She focused on evening out her breathing. Don't cry, don't cry, she ordered herself. She could cry about her newest failed romance later when she got home, when she wasn't in the same room as Wade Kinsella.

"I'm fine," she announced to Lavon with as light a voice as she could manage, avoiding eye contact with Wade, whose gaze she could feel burning into her. "I'm sorry about getting drunk and breaking into your house, I promise it won't happen again. And thanks again for the Tylenol. I better go, I've got to get ready for work. I need a shower, badly."

She gently brushed Lavon's hands off her shoulders and made for the exit. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, she continued her silent chant. Almost out of sight. As she went past Wade, who had been standing as stiffly as a soldier by the door, he reached out and lightly touched her arm. Zoe stopped in her tracks and took a deep, shaky breath in. The pull to turn her head, to meet his eyes was irresistible, and sure enough she found herself looking up into those familiar blue eyes and they were so full of feeling that her breath hitched and tears pooled in her eyes again.

The pull was even stronger now that she'd given into the urge to make eye contact, so strong it almost felt like a rope around her waist. She took half a step toward him, wanting so badly to feel the old comfort of being wrapped in his arms, surrounded by the smell and the feel of him. He'd always made her feel better, and god knows she needed to feel better right now… she forced herself to push past him, out of his magnetic field before she did something stupid.

Wade felt a knife twist inside of him as she broke the contact and ran from him. He hadn't missed that little step, and the little duck of her head that used to mean she was about to tuck it under his chin and hug him. It was so familiar for a second he'd forgotten himself, had started to raise his arms in that old reflex, and now he felt very sharply the edges of the Zoe shaped hole in his arms. He crossed his arms across his chest, as though that was what he had been intending anyway, and followed her with his eyes until she was out of sight.

Ten thousand and one, he mentally added to his tally with another good solid kick to his past self. He would never stop regretting the night that had cost him Zoe Hart.


	5. Chapter 5

"Earl!" Wade yelled as he approached his father's house.

"Wade, there you are," Earl came out with a small pile of clothes under his arms, "Here, you can give these back to Dr Hart."

He loaded his son's arms with Zoe's clothes.

"So you _were_ with her last night!" Wade accused.

"What? I can't talk to your Dr Hart? Worried I'm going to embarrass you?"

"She's not _my _Dr Hart, she isn't my anything."

"Yeah, and that's your own stupid fault, foolish boy."

"What?"

"I know you cheated on that poor girl," Earl said pointedly, and watched his son pale at his words.

"Did Zoe -"

"No, Zoe didn't tell on you to me. She's a loyal one, you know. _And_ she adores you, even after you went and broke her heart. I guessed it from the way she was talking about you, and you just confirmed it for me."

Earl shook his head at Wade, a face full of disapproval.

"Silly boy."

Wade hung his head, smarting from the sting of a parent's disapproval. Even if he was a hopeless old drunkard, Earl _was _still his father, and he cared what he thought of him. He winced as he imagined what his mother would have thought of this.

"You need to get her back."

"I tried!" Wade defended himself reflexively.

"Well you didn't try hard enough."

"It's too late. Its over. We've moved on. I have another girlfriend now, and Zoe has a boyfriend."

"Had," Earl corrected.

Wade narrowed his eyes at Earl suspiciously.

"How do _you_ know about that?"

"Well she broke up with him right in front of me."

"Earl. What. Did. You. Do?"

"I didn't do a thing. She did all the talking…. I may have just brought some problems to her attention."

"You got her drunk and told her to break up with Joel?"

"She was already drunk, and I know better than to tell any woman what to do."

"Earl!" Wade clutched his head in frustration.

"She wouldn't have broken up with him if she actually loved him. She doesn't, by the way. Says he's a boring old man. She misses _you_."

Wade paused at that, a wave of melancholy coming over him. He missed her too. He missed her so much sometimes he felt sick when he saw her. He missed holding her. Missed her warmth, and her laughter, missed her smell (which he could currently detect on the clothes in his arms, and it _wasn't_ helping). Missed the face he made when teased her, missed the way her lip dropped when she wanted something, even missed her bad jokes. Most of all, Wade missed the way she used to trust him, and the way she used to look at him when he walked into the room… like he made her happy.

"She say that?"

"She didn't have too. It's written all over her, if you'd just pay attention."

"Well. It doesn't matter, I'm with Vivian now."

"That Vivian is a nice girl, but she ain't no Zoe Hart. And you know it. I know you do."

"Dad… just leave it alone," Wade pleaded weakly.

Crazy Earl was right - it didn't feel the same with Vivian. But he _did_ like her. He liked what he had with her. He didn't want to think about Zoe Hart anymore, and what they could have been.

"You and her had something. You made each other light up, like fire. That isn't something you should _leave alone_."

"Well I _am _leaving it alone, okay? I'm with Vivian, and that's the way it is. Now leave it be. And don't mess with her again!"

Wade walked away defiantly, but he could still feel his father's eyes on his back, so he turned back and yelled in frustration.

"She'd never forgive me anyway! Like you said, I broke her heart."


	6. Chapter 6

Zoe Hart felt like a failure. Yet another of her relationships had crashed and burned, and here she was in the wreckage, stuffing her face with empty calories; moping alone to Alanis Morissette and every other angry, sad break-up song she could find on her ipod. She hugged a cushion to herself and sighed. Every single time; every guy. She was really starting to think maybe it just wasn't going to work for her. Maybe she was just one of those people who ended up alone, crashing from one failed relationship to the next until she finally got sick of being dumped and cheated on and screwing things up. She swiped at the tears running down her cheeks again, and tried to quash the overwhelming loneliness she felt at the prospect of being alone for the rest of her life. She hated herself for moping, for being so weak and pathetic.

A came knock at her door and Zoe forced herself up from the couch and shoved the empty ice cream container into the rubbish, rapidly followed by as many of the scrunched up tissues as should could hastily gather. She didn't want Lavon seeing how badly she was falling apart. She called out that she'd be there in a second, and quickly ducked into the bathroom to splash water on her face and pat it dry with a towel in an attempt to hide the fact that she'd been bawling all day. As she approached the door, she pulled herself together into some semblance of a stable human being.

It wasn't Lavon.

Wade's gaze ran over her, and she knew he could tell instantly that she'd been crying from the way his eyes lingered on hers. She swallowed uncomfortably, as the tears threatened to make a reappearance. Wade was the last thing she needed right now – another failed relationship right in front of her where she couldn't ignore it.

"Hey," he said, his voice uncharacteristically soft. He watched her cross her arms over her oversized sweatshirt and give him a little nod of greeting. "These are yours. Earl sent them."

He held out her outfit from last night, cleaned and folded in a neat pile (minus the shoes she was now sure had ended up inside a gator).

"Thanks," she managed, taking them from him.

They stood in an awkward silence as Wade weighed up just leaving right then, and Zoe weighed up slamming the door in his face. It was Wade who broke their silent reverie.

"Zoe?"

Zoe hated the way he said her name; hated that it still pulled at that part of her that had always warmed when he smiled at her, or spoke to her, or touched her. She'd tried so desperately to stamp it out when Wade had betrayed, like she wanted to stamp every trace of Wade out of her life, but it was a stubborn little flame that popped up again every time.

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Zoe pressed her lips together in a tight smile. But he was looking at her still, and she dropped her head. "I'm used it. Got my routine down pat."

"Zoe…"

The pain in his voice dug into her. It was yet another reminder that they weren't what they used to be, that that brief period where she'd been _so happy_ with him was long gone. Like Joel. And now she was just alone, and maybe she always would be, because she was a neurotic mess of a woman who only fell for guys who would break her heart, and couldn't love the ones who she should. And suddenly she was thinking about the way her 'father' had pulled away from her when he realised she wasn't his, and about the real father who she'd never got the chance to really know, and the mother who she wanted so much to love but couldn't stop fighting. Every relationship she touched was a mess.

It was too much to feel all at once, when she was still trying pull her pieces together. Zoe felt another wave of tears coming, so she abruptly turned her back on Wade, intent on running somewhere he and his pity couldn't find her and make her feel worse. She barely got one step before Wade's hand closed on her wrist and pulled her back. She tried to shake him off, keeping her face down in an attempt to keep him from seeing her crying, but then she found herself held tightly against him and she couldn't bring herself to fight any more. She went limp and let him hold her while she shook and made ugly sobbing noises, and soaked his flannel shirt with her tears because right now, she desperately needed that little bit of comfort that still lived in Wade's arms. He always made her feel better.

She gave herself one minute. Just one minute of him whispering words of comfort, of his warm hands rubbing circles on her back. She drew just enough strength from him to push him away.

"Wade," her voice broke on his name. "Just… go. Please."

He gave her that look again, full of sorrow and regret and it was just like that night at the wedding with her heart falling to pieces, but still so desperately wanting to forgive him. He did as she asked, and left her to cry by herself, hating every step he took away from her.

Zoe closed the door on him once he turned his back, and slid down it to sit on the floor in a miserable heap, promising herself this was the last time. She was done with falling apart. She'd had enough of loving, and liking, and wanting things. She was tearing up the picture in her head and moving on.


	7. Chapter 7

Zoe had been on a rampage that week. She was throwing herself into her work at the practice and anything else she could find to fill her time with such a ferocity that half the town was watching and waiting for her to crash into a breakdown.

Vivian was worried by the way her cousin was acting and had pulled her aside to ask if she was doing okay in the wake of her rather abrupt break up with Joel. Zoe had assured (extensively) her she was completely fine and that she was simply making productive use of the time she had previously wasted on crappy relationships. Love, she told Vivian, wasn't all it was cracked up to be and she was no longer buying into the lie the world sold everyone about needing a relationship to be happy. It was brilliant, she professed, being single and not having to work around anyone else.

Zoe had always hated group work, she pointed out, because the outcome was dependent on other people. She was a lone wolf, and she was much happier being in control of everything herself. She didn't know why it had taken her so long to realise how much unnecessary stress and wasted effort her relationships cost her. She was going to put all that energy into to doing things that actually mattered, goals that she could work towards that were solid, and stable and not affected by unreliable feelings.

Vivian didn't believe her cousin for a second – she was intimately familiar with the bitter grapes of wrath phase of coming out of a relationship, and for someone who claimed to have seen the light and be happy about being single, Zoe sounded not a whole lot happy, and an awful lot bitter. Especially when she went off on a spiel about how 'love' was just the result of hormones and she was no longer going to be a slave to the delusions caused by an overdose of oxytocin.

Zoe Hart was definitely not completely fine, and Vivian Wilkes certainly wasn't stupid.

She saw the way Wade had been looking at Zoe Hart; or rather studiously _not looking_, with occasional lapses in his self control during which his eyes flicked to Zoe. It was just a little flash of something in his eyes, but it spoke of deep emotion; concern, regret, affection. He was worried about Zoe; about the way she was pushing herself to do everything, and Vivian could tell that sometimes, he was fighting the urge to go to her, ask her if she was okay himself. Vivian wasn't afraid that he would cheat on her with Zoe. It didn't feel like that at all. But the way he looked at her… it did mean something.

Vivian had had a brief flash of doubt about Wade when she started dating him when she found out that he had dated Zoe, but then Zoe was with Joel and she'd seemed ok, and so had Wade. She'd dismissed that feeling that maybe she was stepping on her cousin's toes, because she just like Wade so much, and he clearly liked her. She'd started feeling more uneasy a few days ago when Wade's father, Earl, had accidentally referred to her as 'Zoe'. When Wade corrected him with a glare quick enough, and Earl had apologised to her and said it was just that she and Zoe looked alike, being cousins, and he sometimes got names confused. For some reason though that little slip had gotten to her, and she'd found herself thinking about it more and more often.

She was realising now that what had gone on between Zoe and Wade was maybe more than just dating, whether they admitted to it or not. Wade liked Vivian, and she liked him. A lot. He was a great guy, and he was kind and funny, and hot. But when she caught him giving Zoe that look she could see more than 'like'. She saw something more like _love._

Vivian sat on this idea for a few days, watching Zoe turn herself into a human tornado of health promotion and volunteering and DIY home renovation, and Wade _not looking _at his ex but growing more tense and worried. Wade was just as sweet as ever, and maybe that's why it took her three days to decide instead of one, to turn to him and speak regretfully.

"Wade, I think we need to break up."

Vivian Wasn't going to be a poor man's Zoe Hart.


	8. Chapter 8

Wade hadn't really fully decided whether he was going to knock on Zoe Hart's door, or whether he should wait another day or two - it had only been a day since he and Vivian broke up and he figured it wasn't great form to be going after Zoe Hart this soon. He hadn't figured out what he was going to say to her, and he was nervous as hell, but his feet had taken him to Zoe's doorstep almost against his will. When he heard her scream, though, he was through the (luckily unlocked) door before his thoughts could catch up with him.

He found Zoe hot-footing it down a ladder from the attic, covered in dust

"What's wrong?!"

"Mice! There is a whole family of them up there!" she responded, before doing a double-take, "Wade? What are you doing here?"

"You realise you are about a hundred times bigger than a mouse, right? They can't hurt you."

Zoe pulled a face at him.

"Shut up. What are you doing here?"

"I, uh," Wade rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I heard you scream."

Zoe raised an eyebrow.

"From the plantation, or were you just passing by?"

"I was already here," Wade admitted, after a brief hesitation.

"Oh," Zoe responded her expression growing more serious, and just a little uncertain. After what felt like a long silence, Zoe spoke. "I heard about you and Vivian. I'm sorry."

Wade shook his head, bemused.

"I swear gossip goes through this town faster than a kid on greased Slip n Slide."

"Are you okay?" Zoe asked hesitantly.

"I'm fine." he answered. "We didn't fight or anything... Viv just reckons I'm still too hung up on you to be dating anyone else."

"Oh," Zoe swallowed, feeling guilty. "Sorry."

"It's okay, she was right."

Zoe hugged her arms to herself, her eyes dodging from Wade's to the ground and back again while her insides twisted up in knots.

"Oh," she said again, this time so softly he could barely hear it.

"Hey, Zoe?" Wade spoke again, his voice casual.

"Yeah?"

"There's a spider on your back."

Zoe shrieked and slapped frantically at her back.

"Get it off, get it off, get it off!"

Wade chuckled at her.

"Come here, I'll get it."

Wade caught her by the elbow and pulled her closer. He easily brushed the small spider off her back.

"There, it's gone," he assured her.

"Ugh," Zoe shook her hands in disgust and looked up at him. "Thanks. There aren't any more, are there?"

Wade gently brushed a cobweb from her hair and turned her around in a circle, looking her over.

"All clear," he announced with an affectionate smile.

Zoe looked up at him, becoming acutely aware of their proximity. Wade's hands were still resting on her arms, and the skin beneath was practically burning. Her cheeks flushed and she couldn't remember how to look away or step back until Wade slid his hands down her arms and released her.

"Wade," she asked, once she had recovered herself, "Why did you come here?"

"I wanted to see how you were."

Zoe rolled her eyes.

"Oh god, not you too. I'm fine, ok? Everyone's been tip-toeing around me like I'm going to have a mental break since I broke up with Joel."

"Well you have been acting a little crazy, taking on more projects than Lemon Breeland, driving people nuts chasing people guilting them about smoking and" Wade stated frankly. "And you were pretty serious with Joel, it's normal to be upset."

"It's not even about Joel! Well it is a little. But mostly it's not. Did you hear my mother has decided to inflict herself on me on a more permanent basis? And now I don't have Joel I have to do something to take my mind off..."

Wade raised his eyebrows quizzically when Zoe cut herself off.

"Off what?"

Zoe stepped back from him, and crossed her arms again.

"Zo?"

"I just... you know. Things."

"What things?" he pressed.

Zoe dropped her eyes to the floor and was silent for a minute.

"I never planned on this. My whole life, I've planned things out, set goals, worked for them... and then I had to come to Bluebell and everything started falling apart. Things I thought I wanted turned out not to be what I needed and things I never even dreamed of..."

Zoe trailed off and looked up at Wade.

"I was supposed to be Dr Hart: cardiothoracic surgeon, just like my dad, working in the biggest, most respected hospitals in New York. I knew that from when I was six years old. But then it turned out he wasn't my dad, and I came here and this place, these people... I changed. And now I don't know anything. Everything I always wanted? I don't want it any more. I want Bluebell. I want stupid heat waves and the whole town dressing up as pirates, and everyone knowing everybody and sticking their nose in because they care and patients coming into my practice to talk about their cats... and I want _you_."

Zoe took a shaky breath in and continued more quietly.

"I didn't plan on you, Wade Kinsella. You are the exact opposite of what I thought I wanted in a guy, but I was happier with you than I ever even thought I could be. And now I can't get you out of my head. I can't forget you, I can't get over you. And I_ tried_. I tried_ so hard_, but you got to me and now, even after everything that happened, I_ still_ want _you. _And that scares me, because you hurt me so bad, but I want to forgive you, because I need you like I've never needed anyone."

Zoe looked at Wade, her eyes widening with a realisation. It wasn't until she was saying it out loud that she knew how true it was.

"I think I _love_ you."

Wade had been standing there absorbing every word she said, but those last three were the ones that really took his breath away.

"Zoe," he took a step forward, "I love you too. And I'm _so_ sorry I hurt you. I've never been more sorry about anything. You're the best thing I've ever had in my life, and if you... if you could give me another chance, I'd never do that to you again. I_ promise._"

His voice was so earnest, and she could see the sincerity in his eyes. She couldn't find words to respond with, so she simply threw herself into his arms, and the tightest hug she'd ever been given. Wade lifted her off her feet and peppered the side of her head with kisses. She could hear him breathe in shakily as if he was crying and she hugged him tighter to comfort him. The familiar scent and warmth of him struck her deeply, and she let go and sobbed into his shoulder.

"Hey, hey. Don't cry," Wade stroked her hair and swayed her.

"I missed you," Zoe said emphatically, her voice catching.

"I missed you, too," he answered, pressing another kiss to her cheek.

Zoe pulled back enough to land a kiss on his lips. He kissed her back, wiping the tears from her cheek with the hand he wasn't holding her up with. They kissed until they ran out of air. Wade dropped his head to lean on hers, their noses touching as they caught their breath.

"I'm sorry I ran away from you," Zoe whispered.

"I know. It's okay."

"Hey Wade," Zoe spoke again after a few seconds, her tone a little lighter.

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Wade chuckled, and hoisted her up higher in his arms so he could see the smile she was wearing now.

"I know, you said that before. I love you, too."

"I know. I'm going to keep saying it."

"Fine by me," Wade grinned up at her. "I don't think I'll get sick of hearing it."

He brushed her hair back from her face as she spoke again.

"We can't break up again. Ever. Because that _sucked_."

"It really did," Wade nodded in agreement, and pulled her into another kiss before she could speak again.


End file.
